Wrestling: Mega success for Addison Trail, Fenton
Both Addison Trail and Fenton went into the Thanksgiving break on a high note after defeating a pair of opponents Wednesday morning at the Palatine Mega Duals.
Maine West and the host Pirates went 1-1, while Highland Park and Elmwood Park both suffered a pair of losses.
The Blazers bounced back from its disappointing loss on Tuesday evening to Maine West to overwhelm Highland Park 42-30 before making quick work of Elmwood Park 56-27.
"It was tough to lose on the last match of the night against Maine West," said Addison Trail coach Rob Serios, "but it was good to see the guys come back really strong considering how young our lineup this season with so many new varsity guys, including three freshmen."
The Blazers' best man from a year ago, Karim Fuentes (285, 35 wins) is now wrestling at Elmhurst College.
"Most of our guys are competing up a weight, so when we get everyone were they belong, we should be in pretty good shape, despite our youth," Serio said. "But if we continue to show the fight we did today, we'll be just fine."
The Blazers coach liked what he saw from sophomores Guillermo Juarez (106), John Ramos (135) and Brian Reyes (145) in the early going.
Fenton coach Brian Hastings is in much the same position as Serios, with an abundance of youth. But he also has some cautious optimism about the days ahead.
"It wasn't a bad day - a couple of our guys lost matches we felt we should have won, while others did well and can use those performances to build from," Hastings said. "But we've got a long, long way to go, and our first two days of competition clearly show that."
Fenton topped Glenbard South and Hoffman Estates on Tuesday before handling Maine West 42-28 and Highland Park 39-27.
The Bison lost two state qualifiers from a year ago, Manny Morales and Sebastian Kaspar. But they return five who advanced to the Antioch sectional. That includes senior Nikko Castaneda (170), who drew plenty of praise from Hastings.
"Nikko looked very good right from the start today, very sharp and just spot-on with everything he did," said Hastings of Castaneda, who won 24 times last year at 160 pounds
Chris Brassell is thrilled with the results of his Maine West team, who edged Addison Trail at its home opener Tuesday, then came back from a loss to Fenton and defeated host Palatine 40-22.
"We had an exciting win last night before a big home crowd to get our guys up and running, and after running into a very good team from Fenton, the team pulled themselves up and went after Palatine to finish on a high note, which to me says a lot about the character of these guys," said Brassell, now in his second year running the Warriors program.
Junior Arsalan Afshar (126) collected 2 pins on Wednesday, giving him three in two days. He's just as happy about the Warriors' start as his head coach.
"It was a great atmosphere last night at our place, and when Jayton (Hall) pulled out that big win in the last match to put us over the top against Addison Trail, the gym went crazy and it gave all of us the momentum we need to get us going in the right direction," said Afshar, who won 20 times last year.
In the Warriors' 18-point victory over Palatine, falls from Monica Mendoza, Afshar and then Jake Bellizzi, Nick Hernandez and Keon Boyd at the top of the West lineup dashed the hopes of Dan Collins' Pirates.
"We're going to have to count on our seniors in the first half of the year while our young guys, new to the varsity, work to get themselves up to speed at this level," said Collins. "The commitment around here is some of the best we've seen since I've been here, but lack of experience is something that can't be overlooked."
One of Collins' veterans is Ethan Huber (145) who was involved in the most entertaining and exciting contest of this dual.
Against Joe Bux, Huber opened a 5-0 advantage after one period, then saw Bux roar back with a pair of near falls to make it 9-8 (Huber) heading into the last two minutes of regulation.
An early escape followed by a takedown allowed Huber to earn a 12-8 triumph.
"I was kind of cruising there for a little bit, and actually thought I might have had a pin (there) but my opponent, and my asthma got the best of me, and I had to fight really hard to win that one," said Huber, who says improving his fitness and conditioning during the off-season were of top priority.